The present application claims priority under 35 USC 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-058924 filed on Mar. 2, 2001.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air belt system that inflates a part of the webbing with high pressure gas supplied from an inflator for restraining an occupant on a seat when a vehicle collides.
2. Description of Background Art
An air belt system for an automobile that houses a bag inside the webbing of a seat belt and softly restrains an occupant by inflating the bag when a vehicle collides is disclosed in Japanese published unexamined patent application No. Hei 11-165605. As shown in FIG. 9, for this air belt system, the end of a shoulder belt 04 of webbing 03 is connected to an inflator 02 provided inside an automobile center pillar 01 and when the automobile collides, high pressure gas caused by the inflator 02 is directly supplied to the shoulder belt 04 to inflate the shoulder belt.
In the air belt system as in a seat belt system, if the height of the upper end of the shoulder belt can be also adjusted in accordance with the seated height of an occupant, a sense of installation of the air belt system is enhanced and the restraint performance in inflation can be enhanced. However, for the above-mentioned conventional type, the upper end of the shoulder belt and the inflator are fixed to the center pillar so that they cannot be moved. The conventional type of shoulder belt has a structure wherein the height cannot be adjusted.
The present invention enables an easy adjustment of the height of the upper end of a shoulder belt of webbing by utilizing a shoulder guard provided on struts provided on both the right and left sides of a seat.
To achieve the object, according to the present invention, a vehicular passive safety device provided which is based upon a vehicular passive safety device provided with webbing in which a lap belt that cannot be inflated and a shoulder belt that can be inflated are connected. A retractor is provided to one side of a seat for winding the end on the side of the lap belt of the webbing. A tongue is supported in an intermediate part of the webbing so that the tongue can slide relative thereto. A buckle is provided on the other side of the seat for connecting the tongue so that the tongue can be detached and an inflator connected to the end on the side of the shoulder belt of the webbing for restraining an occupant seated on the seat by inflating the shoulder belt of the webbing with high pressure gas caused by the inflator when the vehicle collides. The end on the side of the shoulder belt of the webbing and the inflator are attached to one of right and left shoulder guards wherein the struts provided on both right and left sides of the seat at the upper and lower positions can be adjusted for protecting the shoulders of an occupant.
According to the above-mentioned configuration, as the end on the side of the shoulder belt of the webbing of the air belt system and the inflator are attached to one of the right and left shoulder guards provided to the struts on both right and left sides of the seat wherein the upper and lower positions can be adjusted, the height of the shoulder belt attached to the shoulder guard can be manually adjusted to a suitable height in accordance with the seated height of an occupant. The height of the shoulder guard is adjusted in accordance with the seated height of the occupant. In addition, a reduction in time and labor for the adjustment occurs. As the inflator is also attached to the shoulder guard and is also vertically moved together with the shoulder belt, the positional relationship between the inflator and the shoulder belt is unchanged and a supply path of a high pressure gas from the inflator to the shoulder belt can be simplified.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.